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Monday, September 25, 2017

I had the pleasure yesterday to attend a slow stitching workshop run by my lovely friend Lisa Mattock. Lisa is an amazing textile artist whose philosophy is based around reusing vintage fabrics, using layers of cloth and simple stitching to create amazing artwork. Lisa draws her inspiration from the simple arts of sashika, boto and kantha.

Yesterday would have been my mum's 79th birthday. Mum was a beautiful seamstress, quilter and embroiderer. It seemed a fitting thing to do, attend a slow stitching course to commemorate my mum, so I drove down to the Summerhouse in Exeter in the southern highlands for the day. It actually worked well because I literally was driving past the lady's door, who bought the Graphite and timber sideboard so I dropped that to her on my way.

Here are some samples of Lisa's work.

We started out by choosing scrap fabric. You can see I've cut up an old shirt and included the buttons and cuff bits. Lisa's business name is Forage by Lisa Mattock and it definitely is foraging. You then use simple running stitches and cross stitch to secure the fabrics and layer them.

Once it's all together and you are happy with the background detail it's time to start embroidering, I chose to do some cherry blossoms. the branches are formed with a running back stitch, and the blossom is just simple french knots in a variegated thread. Also I cut up little circles of pink fabric and such scrunched it up with a little stitch to form flowers. So effective.

My finished piece - well maybe it's finished as perhaps I'll add some more blossom. Not too bad for a first time embroiderer. But so easy and simple.

I'm going to sew this into a cushion backed by pink velvet for Sasha's bedroom. I think my mum would be proud. I wish she could have come with my as she would have loved this type of sewing and she would absolutely love my friend, Lisa. If you are interested in attending a course, Lisa runs them in Sydney also. Find her on instagram under @Foragebylisamattock.

Inspirational cherry blossom right outside the studio.

The summerhouse studio run by the lovely Linda.

Lovely slow day - so relaxing and I now have a new hobby :) Does anybody else embroider? I'd love to see some pieces if you want to send me an email.

Friday, September 22, 2017

I actually was surprised this sideboard turned out so well. It was in quite rough shape and the top surface needed a lot of work. I have painted the base in ASCP Graphite and sealed with clear wax. The handles, I've cleaned and scrubbed and they are all shiny again. I sanded the top back to bare timber to get as many of the deep scratches out as possible and then I've stained it dark walnut and sealed with 3 coats of a waterbased sealer and then waxed.

How good does it look?

The interior of the cupboards and drawers had contact paper but luckily it wasn't adhered properly and when I pulled it out there was no gummy residue at all. Thank god for small mercies.

The only before photos I have was when it was in my car. Not sure you can see how rough it was but all the varnish was dry and peeling and the timber underneath was so dry it just soaked up the first coat of paint.

Glad to have this finished as I have two more sideboards to paint in the next week.

What do you think? Do you love this neoclassical style of sideboard? Like the Graphite and timber mix?

Wednesday, September 20, 2017

Good morning - I feel like I'm on fire at the moment. Touch wood, things are going well. I am loving the extra storage space and being able to have more pieces on the go. Yesterday I finished 3 new pieces. Two are already sold and are getting picked up today and one is still available.

I bought this lovely piece from a guy who was downsizing - he bought it about 30 years ago at a French antiques market in America and shipped it here. The marble on the top is really unusual. I love the parquetry doors also. I only had to clean this up and feed the timber with wax. It is sold already. How cute is Charlie - my perfect sales assistant .

This lovely vintage table is still available. I was mixing a taupe and wasn't really paying attention and picked up a FIFO bottle of ASCP Florence instead of French Linen and didn't realise until I had emptied some in. So I ended up with a soft green instead of taupe. I decide the resulting colour was so pretty - and I hate wasting paint as wow it's so expensive. A lucky accident as the colour is a beautiful match to the glass top.

Lovely little desk or console.103w x 58d x 73h cm$285Pickup Lilyfield

The last piece I finished yesterday was this slim-line vintage console with a marble top. It's unbelievably heavy. The base is actually brass and timber which adds to the weight. I painted the whole base, even the brass with ASCP Graphite and waxed. Over the detail I smeared a little RubnBuff to highlight the details in an aged gold. This piece has already sold.

Today I am hopefully finishing or almost finishing a sideboard that was bought from my inventory and I need to have it ready by Sunday as I'm delivering it to a regular buyer in Bowral. It's such a pretty piece, a bit art deco. I'll have it ready to share here on Friday.

Have a great day - btw if you are interested in the french style table just drop me a line

Tuesday, September 19, 2017

Good morning, I'm catching up with my dad, step mum and sister today, and still have lots of painting and organising to do so I'll just write quickly and share some photos of a gorgeous vintage dressing table I picked up recently. It's getting collected today and will be perfect for my buyer's daughter.

How adorable is that! So much practical storage and you can hide everything away. Sasha is so cross that I've sold it :) She loves everything and wishes we lived in a warehouse and could keep it all.

Monday, September 18, 2017

Good morning my friends. I am in such a great mood (almost always but particularly today). I have secured a garage in the units opposite our house (and my home studio) for storage. It is going to make my life so much easier. I will often lie awake at night wondering how i'm going to fit pieces in and where i will put things. Such a load off my mind. And Phil is thrilled because our carport won't be full of random furniture :) What it will also mean is I can buy good pieces when I see them at a good price rather than waiting till I have space.

We spent hours and hours yesterday in the garden, cutting back everything, pulling out an old mandarin tree that I planted years ago and it never fruited and looked terrible. We moved a few roses and planted some flowers.

Even the wisteria out the kitchen window is going well.

Recently Bob wrote to me about my orchids "I have they same type of Orchid as the one you have on your email. I hate picking them, however when they are just past there best on the plant I pick them and submerse the whole stem in a glass cylinder about the same length as the stem, they will then last up to 6 weeks as beautiful as when you picked them." So Bob thanks for that - look at this beautiful bunch I have in my lounge room. I am just so happy every time I look at them, not only because they are gorgeous in their own right but because they are the work of my grandad and my mum. Thanks so much Bob for the advice, I really appreciate it. Let me know if I've used enough water?? (probably not)

and they are perfect for styling this little side table I sold last night.

I painted and sold a load of mirrors on the weekend. Mirrors are great to practice paint techniques and finishes on. They are small, generally ornate so there is lots of crevices to create patina on and quick to finish so you get satisfaction immediately. I also find mirrors are great sellers if you are in business of selling vintage pieces. Below are the ones I painted on the weekend. All sold already. Also I painted a huge French leaning mirror that's been in my dining room for months and it sold and was picked up on Friday. Phil says we now need another one as that corner is too empty. I'm up for that challenge :)

Anyway hope you have a lovely Monday! I'm off to pick up a load of furniture to fill my new storage space! I'm beside myself, that empty garage is the most beautiful thing I've ever seen ha ha

Friday, September 15, 2017

Good morning! Hope you all have had a great week. I am in the process of finding a garage to rent. I'm hoping a couple in the apartments opposite us are able to rent me some extra storage. They are just checking with their landlord today in regards to their rental agreement. Keep your fingers crossed for me because gosh do I need the extra space. Any time I have to hold onto a finished piece more than a few days I get stressed about logistics. This will make things much easier for me.

I thought you might like to see some before and after

shots of some black bedside tables that were shipped to Melbourne.

There are huge big bedside tables with a hidden drawer at the top. They were in great condition when I started but to be honest no one buys timber furniture from me - everyone wants painted so I painted them.

In progress: drawers lined up everywhere.

Aren't they lovely?

I have a lot of pieces I've painted and not shared here so I think I'll do a big before and after post with lots of pieces. I hope you still find my posts useful and good for inspiration. I love getting your emails and messages so thank you.